


All Nice Guys Are Secretly Lady-Killers

by Cosmicserenity



Series: Cannibalism vs Justice: but make it friendly and college-related [2]
Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: Again, Author Projecting gift giving anxiety, Bedelia is only mentioned, Christmas Fluff, College AU, Established Friendship, Gen, Hannibal is a ladykiller lmao, I have a soft spot in my heart for friendships, Jack and Hannibal are just homies, Jack is 19, Modern AU, Nobody dies here, Presents, Pure, Roommates, Self-Indulgent, Soft Hannibal is on deck, The sin of opening presents early, Ugly Sweaters, Wine, and Hannibal is 22, but figuratively, cause hey- they're like 20 years younger in this AU, chocolate cake, its essentially Hannibal Rising mixed with Hannibal(tv), lady murasaki is mentioned, may be ooc, platonic, spoiler-free, these two are JUST friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27961064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmicserenity/pseuds/Cosmicserenity
Summary: “This is wrong.”Jack’s voice was shaky, uncertain, and he hated how small he sounded as his roommate eased his hand onto his shoulder like the snake that tempted Eve and whispered his ever-compelling argument in his ear.“It is not wrong as long as we tell no one about it.”“Just because no one will know doesnt make it right, Hannibal.” Jack argued. “We aren’t animals.”“And yet we are inherently animalistic by nature.”Jack felt his defenses loosen under the statement, but he didn’t know if it was because he had been deviously persuaded or if this was simply his own desire to begin with. This was carnal, and he knew it was, but he couldn't stop himself from wanting to feel the euphoria that came from committing the taboo and throwing his idea of 'normal' so far out of his mind it escaped through his ears. He couldn’t bring himself to care either, anymore, and he gave a resigned sigh at the cruel reality of the situation as held his hand out expectantly.“Give me the box cutter.”--Alternate summary: Jack and Hannibal open their Christmas gifts  b e f o r e  Christmas? *GASP*
Relationships: Jack Crawford & Hannibal Lecter
Series: Cannibalism vs Justice: but make it friendly and college-related [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047718
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	All Nice Guys Are Secretly Lady-Killers

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to make this a series and just... add parts as I go along. Real low key.
> 
> By the way, I started season 2 today, and I'm fairly certain that whatever happens between Hannibal and Jack within those 12 weeks is only gonna make me feel worse than its supposed to.

“This is wrong.”

Jack’s voice was shaky, uncertain, and he hated how small he sounded as his roommate eased his hand onto his shoulder like the snake that tempted Eve and whispered his ever-compelling argument in his ear.

“It is not wrong as long as we tell no one about it.”

“Just because no one will know doesn't make it right, Hannibal.” Jack argued. “We aren’t animals.”

“And yet we are all inherently animalistic by nature. How amusing, isn’t it?” 

Jack felt his defenses loosen under the statement, but he wasn’t certain if it was because he had been deviously persuaded or if this was simply his own desire to begin with. This was carnal, and he knew it was, but he couldn't stop himself from wanting to feel the euphoria that came from committing the taboo and throwing his idea of 'normal' so far out of his mind it escaped through his ears. He couldn’t bring himself to care either, anymore, and he gave a resigned sigh at the cruel reality of the situation as held his hand out expectantly.

“Give me the box cutter.”

Hannibal’s face brightened under Jack’s booming command, and he rushed to the dining room table to grab the blade before rushing back to his side and slapping it in his palms.

“I take it that you’ll do the honors?”

“As much as I don’t think I should, yes. I will.”

Bending down, closer than he felt he was supposed to be to the limp thing that laid out on the table in front of him, he pressed the box cutter to the very edge of its surface and pierced it with a crunch that only solidified his commitment to the decision he made and amplified the slight guilt that was swimming inside of his stomach. He was always weak to sounds- often, he figured they had an ability to affect him more than anything else. Sounds like these, reminiscent of something that was supposed to be withheld indefinitely, affected him greatly.

It was December 17th, a whole 8 days before Christmas, and Jack Crawford found himself prematurely opening his presents even despite the overwhelming feeling that he wasn’t supposed to- accompanied by his college roommate hovering over him with an intensely excited energy and a toothy grin to match. Today was their last day until winter break began for the next three weeks, and with idle minds and a fair bit of time until they would have to part ways, the two men collected the gifts given to them by their friends and prepared to open them a little earlier than directed.

Even though they both attended two separate colleges, with Jack attending a smaller state school and Hannibal attending Johns Hopkins-something Jack still found to be completely fucking mindblowing- they shared one common trait: they were very, very well-liked by their classmates. Maybe _that_ was why they had two separate mountains of gifts that sat on either side of them on their sleek dining room table.

If you asked him, Jack would say he had absolutely no clue why his classmates hung around him so often, and even less of an idea as to why people would want to buy things for him. He often wasn’t conversational, he had a habit of getting overly loud whenever he got too excited, and he didn’t particularly drip sex appeal, either. He was just a normal guy, if not a little on the intimidating side, but he had still managed to become part of a ‘clique’ either way- and if the small hill of messily-wrapped gifts were any indication, they liked to have him hang around.

Hannibal, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Attractive, gentle, soft-spoken and arguably the smartest person Jack had ever known in his life (which wasn’t that hard a competition, Jack really only knew about 9 people at the max), he had a certain level of charm about him that both made him untouchable and highly coveted by everyone he came into contact with. The transfer student said that he didn't know where it all came from, but Jack had a feeling that he wasn’t that self-unaware, especially when the two of them took the time to look at the overflowing mountain of gifts on his side of the table that he had been handed right before their respective winter breaks started.

All in all, they had a lot of gifts and even more time until school started back up, and since neither of them really had plans to go and visit their families—at least not Hannibal, Jack was considering visiting his family just for the food— they figured that the best way to pass the time would be to open the presents they had received over glasses of wine, freshly roasted chestnuts and the smell of cake baking in the oven behind them. (Rather,  _ Hannibal  _ figured that would be the best way to spend their evening, and Jack was too curious to take the high road this time around.)

So, there they were, with Bing Crosby’s soothing Christmas melodies playing in the background and Jack’s first gift halfway opened, one of the men feeling guilty and the other being generally unaffected.

“What did you get? Who’s it from?”

“This one girl in my intro to applied forensics class, and-” Jack ripped open the rest of the box and pulled out a knitted tan sweater, with the words ‘I really don’t like you’ knitted in bold red yarn in the center of it. “-A sweater that describes my usually constant mood.”

“Hopefully that mood is not present in the room with us today?” Hannibal inquired, prying his eyes from the shirt and to his roommate.

“You, my friend, are one of the only exceptions.”

Jack folded the sweater back up and set it down on the table, placing the now empty gift box down on the floor and tossing the box cutter back to Hannibal. “You next. I wanna see what your adoring fans got you for Christmas.” He chuckled, grabbing his wine glass from the kitchen counter behind him and taking a small sip. Thankfully they had gone all out in celebration of their winter break, caving in and getting a relatively expensive bottle of wine to rejoice in the fact that neither of them had to even think about college for 3 whole weeks, and the soft tang of apples and blackberry sat on his tongue and only added to Jack’s jovial mood.

“I don’t know why you say that- I swear, I’m not that popular.” Hannibal teased, grabbing the closest gift to his right and slicing it open. When he caught Jack’s less than unimpressed guise, the tips of his ears burned. “Alright… maybe I am a  _ bit  _ well-liked.”

“Try again, with less modesty.”   


“Oh, look at this!” Hannibal changed the topic with a blatantly obvious shift in tone, turning Jack’s focus to the gift he was holding with a sparkle of interest shimmering in his deep brown eyes. “Someone made me a scarf!”

Jack peered over to the green and black scarf with a curious look, leaning closer to inspect it in further detail and trying to discern how Hannibal managed to know it was handmade without being told by the sender. “How do you know that?”

“Pay attention to the gaps in the yarn.” Hannibal pointed to the holes in the scarf nonchalantly, putting the scar on full display before folding it and putting it on the table opposite to Jack’s gift. “The holes are uneven, indicating that some threading is looser and some is tighter. You can also smell a cheap perfume on the gift as well, though faint, and some of the wool from the yarn has frayed due to both the changing heating conditions and repetitive manner of being held and set down over the course of days.”

“How do you  _ do  _ that?”

“I have a fascinating dedication to detail.” He replied simply, setting the scarf down but letting his hold on it remain for a few seconds. Did he notice something about it? If he did, he chose not to explore it, and reached for his next gift like nothing had happened.

The gift he chose next was large- at least the box was, the inside slid from side to side the more his roommate moved it between his hands, and was wrapped in a red and white gift wrap that looked like it would tear to bits if you looked at it wrong. Hannibal was holding it the dubbed ‘pretty way’, with the silver bow placed perfectly in the center of the box and smack dab on the nose of one of the gift wrap’s many snowman illustrations, but Jack could recognize that recklessly taped and disgustingly stiff package anywhere. _He was the one who wrapped it._

“Oh! Uh-” Jack trailed off. How fun-he didn’t know it was possible to trail off of a sentence that had never started until today.

“Yes?” 

“That gift-” Jack pointed at it like he was accusing it of murder. “That’s mine. From me to you, that is.”

“Really? Why didn’t you hand it to me in person, then?” Hannibal tilted his head to the side and cocked an eyebrow, all of a sudden becoming much gentler with the package than he had been before as he inspected the ins and outs of the gift wrap. 

“Well, it’s a bit on the plain side- and I didn’t know if you’d like it or not.” Jack remembered all too soon that he could have just… not said anything, and he mentally face-palmed at his own impulsiveness. 

“I greatly enjoy plain things, Jack.”

Yeah, that was true- but it still didn’t ease the anxiety that came from gift-giving in general. Jack always hated the process, which he realized as he looked back on his previous track record of giving out horrible presents, and figured it was his one Achille’s heel when it came to holidays. Maybe that’s why he was ignoring the tearing of the gift wrap with the strength of ten gorillas and focusing more on thoughts that would in no way be important after around 5 minutes.

“It’s… an apron.” Hannibal lifted the beige and maroon colored apron from it’s confines like he was holding a trophy, naming it off like it was the last thing he had expected but smiling regardless.

“I tried to get it to match the color scheme you normally wear- plus, it’s fancier, just in case you have your other guests over.” Jack was quick to explain his reasoning, finding that talking about ‘logistics’ was typically one of the only ways he could feel centered, and wracked his brain to try and find a way to make up for the ‘blandness’ of the gift. 

“Thank you so much, Jack. I’ll put it to good use.” Hannibal assured, noticing Jack’s mind having been short-circuited in the attempt to make a justifiable explanation, and put a hand to his roommate’s shoulder. “You’re the first person who’s left a note, too.”

“Actually, I think your scarf-maker left a note, too.” With a stiff grunt, Jack reached in the gift box and pulled out a bright white card, smelling of rosemary and lemon with a few words scribbled fancy in cursive. What they read out to be seemed to be more convoluted than he had expected, speaking with old vocabulary and strewn about French sentences, and the only thing he fully understood was the overly-intricate signature left at the bottom, marked with x’s, o’s, a phone number, and a hint of red lipstick smeared on the corner.

“...Who is Bedelia?”

Jack must have summoned Satan herself, because the way Hannibal’s eyes raised in apparent alarm and his legs rushed their way towards Jack’s nonchalant position was like that of a man determined to save the world before it caved in on itself. 

“She is someone who is sly, maladaptive, and relatively unimportant.” Hannibal snatched the note from Jack’s hands and tore the card in half, not bothering to read it before putting it and the scarf back in the box with a seemingly unneeded haste. “We share a common tragedy, but that is all.”

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Hannibal put the box cutter in his hands and looked back to the rest of their gifts before he could expound on the subject. “Now, if you do not mind, I’d like to admire my apron a bit more before I open my next gift. The indulgent pleasure is yours once again.”

What just happened? It wasn’t Jack’s place to ask, he guessed, but he found that the only reason that thought was formed in the first place was because he was slightly terrified to open that can of worms and ruin an otherwise good night. If Bedelia was that bad, then he wasn’t going to ruin his friend’s mood with the mention of her. Still, Jack wondered if Hannibal had any other skeletons in his closet he’d prefer to keep undisclosed, too.

“I am curious to see what I get next.” Jack laughed, trying to lift the mood and breathing a huff of relief when he saw that it worked. “Onto the next gift, then.”

\--

After around 30 minutes of ripping open flimsy paper boxes and discerning which of their presents were good and which presents were...unique, Hannibal and Jack had finally opened and seen every gift they had received- and the joy of knowing all the thought Jack’s friends had put into getting him something they knew he would like made him feel a lot less guilty than he did when he was cutting open the first box. Hannibal had a certain glow about him too, probably feeling just as flattered as Jack did, and disappeared into the kitchen only to reappear moments later with two small chocolate lava cakes in hand as he watched his roommate slump into one of the two grey bean bag chairs in their living room.

“So, who’s this Bedelia girl you mentioned earlier? She seems interested in you.”

Hannibal coughed, stopping in his steps for just a moment before continuing with the cakes in hand. “I sincerely doubt that Bedelia Du Marnier is attracted to me, Jack.”

“Even with the note?” Jack accepted the cake Hannibal offered eagerly, but waited until Hannibal was next to him to begin to eat.

“Of course not. I’m beginning to think you just enjoy speculating the depth of my romantic advents.” Hannibal took his place next to him on the other bean bag chair and reclined in the seat, sighing before jumping right back into the conversation with Jack- who was using every FBI mind trick he had learned in the book in order to get his roommate to crack. It was good practice, honestly.

“It isn’t speculation if I have viable evidence.” Jack noted as he took a quick bite out of the dessert.

“And what evidence would that be?” 

“The number Bedelia left on the card, next to the x’s and o’s.” He nibbled at more of his cake and waved his fork in the air. “Face it- I’m fairly certain that everyone you’ve come into contact with at that school is at least a _little_ into you.”

“No one is interested in me.” Hannibal’s lips twitched and threatened to smile, Jack paying close enough attention but not being able to connect the dots before his roommate forced himself to look serious again and began to eat at his own cake.

“Including the ‘study guests’ you bring over?” Jack countered.

“Of course not. They’re only interested in learning, after all.” He looked appalled at the thought, shaking his head vehemently and acting as if what Jack had just asked violated every defining law of nature there was on the planet.

“...You have to be shitting me at this point.”

“I would have loved to have continued the gag, because it’s always a fun sight to see your skeptical face, but I absolutely  _ am  _ joking.” Hannibal’s deep frown snapped into a smirk in less than an instant, looking deviously proud of himself as he relished in Jack’s realization of the lighthearted prank he had fallen into. “I might be more academically inclined than socially, but even I know when someone’s coming on to me. It’s just fun to see them scurry around, is all.”

“You’re such a  _ player _ .” Jack gasped. “For a second, I was convinced you were just too unaware for your own good.”

“I wanted to be as humble as I could for as long as I could, frankly.” Hannibal defended himself, finishing off his lava cake. “In reality, I’m just not interested in the idea of getting into a relationship with anyone I know from Johns Hopkins. Or anyone I’ve encountered in my educational endeavors, for that matter.” He scrunched his face up at the thought of it, an expression Jack was both tickled by and never wanted to be on the receiving end of, and reached for his glass of wine. “I’ve never been one to excel in social interaction- much less the more loving sub-segment of it.”

“ So in other words, you’ve never been interested in anyone romantically?”

“I have once, and only once, but… she and I aren’t close anymore.” Hannibal let the subject trail off, staring down at the pool of burgundy liquid that sloshed in his glass. “It’s one of the reasons why I don’t intend to return to my home for the holidays.”

“Oh god.” Jack stared at his roommate, nearly choking on his half-bite of lava cake. “You weren’t attracted to someone you were related to, were you?”

“No! No, no.” His roommate bit his cheek and looked off. “At least, we weren’t _directly_ related.”

“ _ What _ ?”

“She was my aunt in-law. Younger than my uncle but older than me, and she was… my everything. I idolized her.”

“But?” Jack was tired of asking one word questions already, but there was a strange wonder that compelled him to keep going.

Hannibal clenched his fist, his face contorting to a completely new one of regret that was previously unknown to the younger man next to him, but released it just as soon with a gulp of his wine. “But now, the rest of that chapter of my life is one I’d much rather keep closed.”

“I can respect that.” Jack realized all too late that he was prying into matters that weren’t particularly his business in the first place, and he pulled away from the conversation with a flustered face and an unhealthy amount of shame. “I apologize, too. That’s uh, that was on me.”

“Curiosity is human nature, Jack. There’s no need to apologize for what you cannot help.”

“I still feel bad.” He grunted.

“Then, maybe this will make you feel better.”

Hannibal shuffled around behind him and pulled out a neatly wrapped package (the antithesis to Jack's earlier mess of a wrapped gift) shoving it in Jack’s direction pointedly and incentivizing him to grab it. “Here. This I got for you.”

“Hannibal, you really didn’t have to get me a gift-”

The man nodded to the apron that was still on the dining room table and turned back to Jack, reclining in the bean bag chair “If I recall correctly, you didn’t either.”

Jack didn’t have a good enough retort to that, and mumbled a small ‘touche’ as he opened the gift with a downplayed excitement. He didn’t want to look too eager, but he couldn’t control his anticipation as he slowly tore off the gift wrap and marveled at what he had been given.  _ Well… holy shit. _

“Did you buy me… an entire coat for Christmas?”

“I noticed your old one looked a bit dilapidated, and I know your dislike of being cold is fairly intense.” Hannibal justified, nodding at the most definitely expensive present with a proud smile. “Hopefully it suits your tastes?”

“Oh, hell yeah- I wanna go outside just so I can wear it now.” Jack gushed, already feeling the warmth of the soft down feathers through the black material as he ran his hand up and down the front of it, fixated on the fluffy texture. “Now I feel even worse for just getting you an apron.” It was a half-joke, said through smiling teeth with a light tone but heavy subtext, and Hannibal shook his head at the sound of it.

“Don’t. The fact that you were willing to give me anything at all is more than enough. Not to mention, this is the first year I’ve ever been able to exchange gifts with someone unrelated to my family.”

He hummed lowly in response, still looking over the coat one more time in a misplaced wonder as to how expensive it might have been, and an amused chuckle from Hannibal was the only thing that brought him out of his mix of admiration and appraisal. Honestly, he was a tad embarrassed at how obviously he showed his appreciation for his gift, but he couldn’t help himself. It was nice- and Jack wasn’t used to having nice things just as much as he figured Hannibal wasn’t.

“Merry… early Christmas, Jack. I appreciate you for putting up with me thus far.”

Jack laid the coat down on his lap and smoothed it over, smiling sheepishly out of the corner of his mouth, and gently punched Hannibal in the shoulder. “I could say the same to you. After all, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yes! Yes, we’re… friends.” Hannibal said the statement like he wasn’t even aware of the fact before Jack brought it up, laughing at the truth of it and drinking the last of his wine with a distant stare his roommate couldn’t place.

After a bit of silence, Jack stood up to put his gifts away and headed back to his room with an extra boost of confidence in his step. But, just as he made his way to the hallway with his small hill of stuff in hand, he caught the snippets of a mutter Hannibal must have thought he wouldn’t have been able to hear.

_ “I have a friend.” _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this was fueled solely because Hannibal goes through so much shit as a kid and I just wanted to make him H A P P Y for once.
> 
> Also, Jack bought the apron from a small business- because we have to support our fellow people in their business endeavors <3


End file.
